Bye, Bess- Hetalia Fanfiction
by neeneepapa12
Summary: Human AU- Based a tad on BF1- Not fully historically accurate- kinda OOC-


"This is it, ain't it? We're going to bloody die in here, aren't we? In a bloody tank?" Arthur glanced towards me, his eyes tinted with a mix of fear and utter anger. "They'll come marching down that road… their weapons in hand… ready to kill us as soon as they lay an eye on us! And it'll be this bloody machine's fault for blowin' on us!" I watched as he kicked the interior, letting out a sharp hiss of pain as he felt the sudden shock. He leaned against the place he had recently booted, laughing hysterically. On the outside, our mate Allistor was looking at the exterior, mainly the tread, to try and figure out if something had gotten stuck.

Soon, Allistor opened up the side and climbed in, "Aight, let's go over what I think has happened," he cleared his throat and stepped over to us. "The engine is blown."

"What?" Arthur stared at his brother, his voice cracked as the ill-ridden words left his mouth. "Blown?... Don't.. Don't we have parts?"

"Nope. Threw 'em out because _Alfred_ here didn't think we would need them." He slapped a hand on my shoulder and shook me roughly. "So now one of us 'as to go out there and find a village, hopefully with parts!"  
"And if it's occupied with Fritz boys?" I counter, "If whoever goes out gets killed?"

"Your fault." He simply stated, his gaze digging into me like daggers. "But hey, we need a volunteer, and I know I'm not goin' out there. Which one of you is headin' on out?"

A moment of silence replaced the rambling and Arthur and I shared a glance. I knew he wasn't going to go, and it was my fault in the first place. I slowly raised my hand and nodded, focusing my eyes up at Allistor. "... I'm going. It's my fault. Plus, I'd rather die for the machine than die in the machine. Reasonable answer?"

"Sure, sure," Allistor gave me a smile, walking back to the exit. "Then it's settled. When you're ready, head to the village that's up ahead. It's marked on the map. If God gives us luck, we've already captured it." He jumped out, but before he finally shut the doors, he leaned in. "Though I may regret goin' and sayin' this, but dying for a hunk of metal on wheels? Crazy, mate!" Allistor lets out a rough laugh, interrupted by a few coughing fits. He closed the door, Arthur and I still being able to hear his cackling from the inside.

"How are you two related?" I broke the silence within the tank. "He's rowdy and high-spirited, has somewhat very little anger problems, while you here have a very high temper and try to act like a high-class man."

"At least I wasn't the one to throw out the extra parts we needed," Arthur let out a huff of annoyance. "But, I see your point. Though you obviously haven't seen him overly aggravated." He slid down the wall to a sitting position, running his bandaged fingers through his dirty blonde hair. "Mum was English, dad was Scottish, you can see who hung out with who. Personality, appearance," as it fell dead silent, again the one thing we could hear was the small banging of what sounded like metal outside. I believed it was Allistor just banging two tools together for entertainment. He did that when we had breaks.

"If I die while I'm out there, I'm sure gonna miss the two of you." It ached me to say those words. It was true I didn't know what was awaiting me out there, in the next village. Maybe we didn't capture it and Germans were there waiting for ignorant soldiers like us to come waltzing in unannounced. "I'll miss you, my family, my girl.."

"Stop acting like you're writing your will," Arthur puts a hand on my shoulder, "It's not the end of the world until Britain gets bombarded by Germany."

"And America." I chime softly.

Arthur just laughed, shrugging it. "Yeah, and you bloody colonies. What a joke."

"'Use the Queen's English, you git. Use the kettle for tea, you git,'" I mock Arthur jokingly, waving my hands in front of his face. "'Don't burn the bloody scones!'"

Our chat about bombardment and my teasing was interrupted by Allistor running in and grabbing his gun, grabbing ours as well and throwing them at us. Arthur and I scrambled and caught them, standing up. "Allistor, what's going on?" I ask. This wasn't normal. What was happening?

"Our luck ain't bloody with us, today!" Allistor retorted. I could feel the uneasy presence of something… something horrible.

"T-That doesn't answer his question!" Arthur stuttered. The look on his face showed he was confused and frightened of his brother's sudden anger.

"Oh, I don't know," He leaned against the wall, pretending to think. "Oh, possibly the worse thing to happen to us." He lets a moment of silence take his place for a brief moment, before he finally muttered, "Fritz."

"A-Already?!" I yelped, running over to the entrance. Surely enough, in the distance, we were able to hear the quiet murmurs of the German's talking in their native tongue. "How many?"

"Enough we can take on ourselves, I suppose." He chuckles at the overreaction. "Arthur, come 'ere."

Arthur stumbled over, looking up at the ginger male. His heart was beating as fast as a jackrabbit's while being chased as he clutched the rifle close to his chest.

Allistor put his hand on his shoulder, letting out a heavy sigh. "It's possible one of us won't make it out alive, and it's possible both of us don't. Either way, you're a good brother. You always have. No matter how many times you break my belongings, or have fist fights with me, I wouldn't trade you for a pack of cigs."

The blond nods, lacking the courage and hope he may need for this. Arthur wasn't used to war, and he bitterly despised it. I didn't blame him. Before we were moved to working in Bess, we were in the trenches. Somewhere east, in the trenches. Seeing people getting blown into the air. Getting shot. Stabbed. Terrifying. But, we hid from those horrible things inside of Bess. It was less… gruesome. We didn't need to shoot anyone with our rifles up to this point. Only with Bess. she could crush and kill anything she put her mind to. Though Arthur and I didn't have the guts to look out at the destruction, while Allistor looked out in glee, shouting, "Get outta here, Fritz!" While doing that, he had dodged multiple near-death experiences from bullets and swings in the head from shovels and other tools.

But this wasn't going to be one of those times. This was going to be combat- up close… and my first opportunity to snatch a dog tag. Some people I met back at the border did this, and I thought it was an excellent idea to take upon myself. So, in the end… I suppose this ain't all that bad.

"... We'll hide in the bushes." I swallow hard. "We'll hide there. While they're checking out Bess, we'll sneak up and kill them. All of them."

"... So they're just going to think some English twats left their tank here to rust?" Arthur looked towards me with one of the usual looks of fear her wore on his pale face. "That's crazy."  
"Like I haven't heard that before," I scoff and slip out of the tank, heading towards some overgrowth. It was thick enough to not give us away. Allistor and Arthur followed after me, crouching in the bushes on either side of me. We tried to keep our breathing in sync. I had no clue why. It was a habit that just… randomly started up.

"If you get Arthur and I killed," Allistor whispered in my ear, "expect to be haunted for the rest of your life."

Beside me, Arthur was humming quietly to himself from what he would have to do in a few minutes. I didn't blame was young, and had barely lived his life to the fullest… just like me. I made a promise to him. A promise to make sure he went home safely to see his folks, his brother following wearily behind him. I desired the same exact thing. I wanted to go home and hold my mother and father close. Hug my brother… if he made it back home from the war, too. I didn't know where he was. If he was dead or alive, it wasn't in my knowledge. I wouldn't know until I heard from him or got home and saw him with Kuma, the family dog.

Allistor interrupted me from my thoughts. "... They're here."

In front of me, I spread the branches slightly… and sure enough, there they were, muttering and examining the outside of Bess. I put a gentle hand on Arthur's shoulder. "... Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"... One hundred percent." He smiled. I knew it was forced. It didn't seem relaxed enough to seem genuine. I frown, shifting my weight to stop my legs from aching. We had to move.

"Alright then, let's go…" I push past the branches, feeling the ends of the small branches poking at my exposed skin."I'll go inside, Allistor and you go take the ones on the other side of the tank."

"You really think you can take two on at once, eh?" Allistor smirked. "Cheeky, cheeky,"  
I let out a scoff and send him a glare, growing irritated by the second. But I couldn't be irritated. We had something very important to deal with. "Cut it out."

"Whatever you say, commander," Allistor rushed out of the bushes, sneaking to the front side of Bess and peeking around the corner. Arthur did the same thing, but by her backside. As I said I would do, I slowly made my way to the entrance, keeping ever so quiet as I took every step. I stood to the side, gazing in on what I could see. There was only one of them. Where was the fourth? Did he go towards the other side with the other two while I wasn't looking? Surely not… I saw him walk in with my own eyes… I heard the German's heavy boots hitting the metal floor. I swallowed. It came closer.. And closer.. Until it stopped. They called out someone's name, most likely one of the other soldiers. I covered my mouth and squatted down, watching steadily. They were just five feet away. From my back pocket, I slid out a knife. I haven't used it before. Not until now. I knew what to do, though. I heard him resume walking, coming closer and closer. Then, he stepped down onto the dirt, not noticing me. I prayed to God I was out of his eyesight. He was right in front of me.. Just one more step… Now!

I lurched forward and pulled him over, covering his mouth tightly with my hand. I let out little shushes and tried to get him to shut up, tightening my grip. My other arm pressed his arms tightly against his chest. He struggled, his cries muffled by the palm of my hand. I continued to shush him, bringing the knife slowly towards his neck. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and-...

I felt a sharp pain surge through my backside, causing me to loosen my grip on the man in front of me. I stumbled back and turned, seeing the... The fourth German… with a gun pointed straight at me. Smoke was blowing out of the end. I turn back to the other, getting hit in the face with the shoulder stock of his rifle. I couldn't speak. All words left my mouth.

I watched as the German towering above me pointed his gun down at me, talking to the other one with a harsh tone. I just silently prayed. I didn't want to die… not yet… not until I'm home.

Then, I saw Arthur wrapped his arms tightly around the German's neck, struggling to stay in control. He soon drove a knife into his neck, throwing the limp body to the ground. Behind me, I heard Allistor taking down the last one. Arthur ran over to me and grabbed me by my arms, pulling me up to stand. He kept an arm hook under mine, moving to my side to help me stand. I smile at him. A sad smile.

"...I'm sorry."

"... S-Sorry for what?" Arthur asked me, confused. "You're hurt! Y-You got shot!"

"I'm saying sorry to my family," I looked down and try my best to hold back my tears. Men don't cry. Men don't cry during war. Men don't cry over death. "I-I'm going to die," I shakily dig my left hand into my pant pocket, taking out a folded piece of paper, and handing it over to Allistor. "That's… A letter for my family…" I stuck my hand back into the pocket and pulled out a second. "And… this one for my brother Matthew... "

Allistor took the two papers from my shaking hands. "Where… where did you get shot and where does it hurt?"  
"To the left… on my backside… It's throbbing over there…" My breathing picked up. "You guys… just leave me here and get back to the front lines, neither of us knows how to remove bullets from people..."

Allistor looked at Arthur and hesitated. Sighing, he shook his head and lifted me onto his back. "It's bloody obvious we aren't leaving you, Al, and you know that _very_ well."

"Yeah," Arthur chimed in, trying to change the mood of the atmosphere, "you made the promise to bring us home safe… it's our turn to take that promise on, right, Allistor?"  
"Right." The ginger nods. "Go get everyone's stuff, Arthur. We got a very long way to go."


End file.
